Third Time Lucky
by dragonluvr85
Summary: When Hermione comes out of a rocky relationship and is in need of a place to stay a muggle helps her, but not in the way she wanted, finally she finds love in an old school friend. Different to most of my other fics. HG and RW eventually. Please R


**A/N: I know, I know I should be finishing my other stories but this idea came into my head so I wrote it! And I have sort of had writers block, not to mention school, so yeah.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Josh, I made him up. Not sure if I own the story line.**

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"Hermione! Get out here now and bring a beer," a voice rang through the house.

Hermione came scurrying out of the kitchen with a bottle of beer in her hand. She handed it to Harry and left to prepare dinner. While she cooked her mind wandered off to the time when she and Harry had started dating. He had been a nice, sensitive and caring boy at the time but once they left school Harry had turned to alcohol and every night he would drink so much that he would pass out and Hermione had to drag his body up the huge flight of stairs.

Finally dinner was ready and she took it out to him using the hovering charm that she had mastered back at school. _Those were the good days, _she thought reflectively as she sat down in her old rickety rocking chair. Harry had the new recliner and was watching football.

"That should have been a foul!" Harry shouted messily at the television set after taking a rather large bite.

Hermione fiddled with her food. "So how was work?" she asked as she had every night since they had moved in together. Harry grunted in the typical reply, his eyes glued to the screen. Hermione resignedly ate her dinner in silence while Harry continued to yell at the television.

After dinner and the dishes Hermione snuck away into the study and sat down at the desk. She drank in the silence gratefully and took a quill and a bottle of ink and some parchment and wrote:

_Dear Harry,_

_I thought this relationship was good, but over the past five months I feel as if we are as distant as strangers. I don't think I can take it much longer; there is just too much distance between us. I am so sorry I had to write this in a letter, but you barely acknowledge me when I do talk to you._

_With Love, Hermione_

With every stroke of the quill Hermione felt tears coming to her eyes and when she had finished there were enough tear drops on the page to make the ink run. She folded it neatly and tucked it discreetly into her pocket before sneaking up to their bedroom. She gathered together all the clothes she owned and packed them in a bag. She went into the lounge room and chanced a quick peck on the cheek to Harry who had fallen asleep, empty beer bottle still in hand. Before she walked out the door she taped the letter to the fridge and sighed before closing the door on her old life.

* * *

Hermione walked up the street to the local little coffee shop and threw her bag into a booth and then sat down. She ordered a coffee from the waitress, who already knew her by sight and Hermione was casually sipping it when she felt a shadow fall over her. She turned around and saw a handsome man with brown bangs falling over his forehead. She got lost in his deep brown eyes.

"Hello, I'm Joshua Langley but everyone calls me Josh," he introduced himself.

Hermione was surprised. "Uh, hi. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Pleasure to meet you, is that seat taken?" he asked, indicating the seat opposite Hermione.

"No," Hermione said with a smile.

"May I join you then?" Josh asked politely.

"Sure," Hermione nodded, smiling even more.

"You're here often aren't you?" He said conversationally once he was seated.

"Yes actually," Hermione answered. "How did you know?"

"I come here often myself and I sometimes see you here. I am usually at the table over there." He pointed to a table on the other side of the shop.

"Oh that's funny, I haven't seen you here before."

He shrugged and gave her a winning smile. "Well I am normally pretty quiet. I come here for some peace from my busy life."

"Wow, me too," Hermione said feeling more and more relaxed with Josh by the minute. She took a sip of her coffee. "So how come you decided now to come and make conversation?"

He shrugged, flicking his hair out of his eyes. "You looked lonely and I noticed your bag. I figured you might need a shoulder to lean on."

Hermione was surprised by his kindness. "Yeah, well I just got out of a relationship," she explained.

He leaned across the table to touch her hand comfortingly. "I'm sorry to hear that. No wonder you looked so lost and unhappy. Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really," Hermione said bitterly. "He was a drunk and has probably already forgotten who I am. I have left him for good and I am never going back. Now I just need to figure out what to do next. I can't stay at the coffee shop forever no matter how good their coffee is." She attempted a smile.

Josh looked concerned. "Oh well if you need a place to stay, I have a spare room at my place," he offered.

"How nice of you to offer, I wouldn't be any trouble?"

"Of course not! I would like the company as it were." He smiled and his eyes sparkled. Hermione fell deep into his gaze.

"In that case, I would love to accept," she said gratefully.

"It's done!" he said with a laugh and reached across the table to shake her hand.

After Hermione finished her coffee she grabbed her bag and followed Josh to his car. They drove through the suburbs and eventually came to an old house. Josh parked the car in the driveway and got Hermione's bag then unlocked the front door of the house.

"It's not much but it is home," Josh said welcomingly, ushering her in through the door.

Hermione smiled happily. She was just so grateful to Josh that she gave him a quick hug.

"Sorry," she said with pink cheeks.

He just grinned at her in his award winning way.

He gave her a tour of the house before showing Hermione her room. He left her alone in there to get changed. Hermione looked around the bedroom and saw that it had an old double bed that looked pretty lumpy and uncomfortable. In the corner there was a huge wardrobe and an empty bookshelf. She frowned slightly at the layer of dust over everything but didn't think too much of it. She quickly changed then went and said goodnight to Josh who gave her a friendly peck on the cheek.

She lay down sleepily on the bed to discover how uncomfortable it actually was. She drifted off into an uneasy sleep with lots of tossing and turning.

Later in the night Hermione awoke to the sound of her door creaking open but when she looked there wasn't anyone there. She blamed it on the condition of the house and promptly fell back asleep again.

Suddenly she was awoken again by a large amount of weight being added to the bed. She rolled over to see Josh's eyes glinting out of the gloom.

"Josh? What are yo-" but before she finish something thick and wooly was shoved in her mouth. A sock by the smell of it. She tried to scream but it was muffled. Josh grinned, but this time it wasn't a nice grin. Hermione's eyes opened wide with terror as she realized that he was naked. She tried to push him away put realized that her hands were bound. She moved her legs to kick him away but he was immediately on top of her. Sensing her movement and sitting on her legs to prevent it. Sick with fear Hermione struggled helplessly as he undressed her. From her sleeping the oversized t-shirt she was wearing had ridden up to her waist revealing her daggy old underwear. Josh pulled away the sheets and blankets and pulled off her underwear. Hermione screamed as hard as she could but with the sock in her mouth no sound came out. Tears leaked out of her eyes and she began to tremble as he slipped on a condom. She realized the terrible mistake she had made in taking up a strangers invitation to stay at his house.

By the time he was finished Hermione was in hysterics but Josh didn't seem to notice or care. Josh got dressed and walked out of the room leaving Hermione lying in the position he had left her on the uncomfortable bed.

After she had calmed down a little she managed to free herself . She climbed out of the bed and pulled the sock out of her mouth before pulling on her underwear and putting on her clothes. He had locked her into the room on his way out but she quickly pulled her wand out of its hidden place in her bag and unlocked the door. She crept as quietly and as quickly as she could out of the house, never looking back as she escaped outside.

* * *

For the remainder of the night Hermione kept to the footpath and just continued walking, wanting to get as far away as possible. By day light she was a good five blocks away. By that time her feet hurt so much that she sat down near the curb and began to stretch her creaking joints. Suddenly, after stretching her right arm, a loud _Crack!_ Resounded through the air and Hermione jumped about a mile in the air. In front of her had appeared a triple decker purple bus. Hermione smiled with relief as she realized what it was.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, I am Peter Neolson and I will be your conductor for this morning," Peter said before giving Hermione a piece of paper. He then got her bag and hurried her on. Hermione sat near the driver.

"So where is it you want to go?" Peter asked.

"Am I able to go to The Burrow?" Hermione asked after some careful thought. She wondered if Ron still lived there. She had lost all contact with the Weasley's when Ron and Harry had gotten into a fight after they graduated and never resolved it. She hoped that she would still be welcome there.

"The burrow it is," Peter replied briskly.

_

* * *

I shouldn't be here; I know I shouldn't be here, what if Harry finds me? He'll kill me!_

Hermione stood outside the rickety house that had been the home of the Weasley's for decades. With a deep breath she carried her bag down the footpath avoiding a few of the chickens that were crossing the footpath. She knocked on the door and waited. Suddenly the door was flung open and standing right in front of Hermione was Ron Weasley.

He stared at her in utter amazement and rubbed his eyes. "H…hi," Ron stuttered.

"Hey Ron, sorry Harry and I lost contact with you," Hermione apologized in a rush.

"Um, that's alright. Harry was starting to bug me anyway. Where is Harry?" Ron couldn't seem to stop staring as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Hermione flushed. "I left him last night," she answered awkwardly.

"Oh," Ron said not knowing quite what to say.

"It's alright Ron, he probably hasn't even noticed yet. He has turned into a drunk ever since school. Hopefully this will be a good wake-up call."

Ron nodded slowly. "Well, where did you stay last night?"

"Oh, er…" Hermione didn't what to say. She didn't feel quite comfortable telling him about her ordeal just yet. "I went for a coffee then caught the Knight Bus here. I didn't get much sleep though." She attempted a smile.

Ron smiled back then suddenly enveloped her in a tight hug. "It's good to see you again Hermione," he whispered.

She relaxed into his arms and closed her eyes. "It's good to see you too Ron."

She hadn't felt this safe for a very long time.

**

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A/N: I know this isn't what my fans expected but I got the idea and I typed away. I would once again like to thank my beta kittyluvr for her help. Don't worry I will keep writing my other stories.**

**Please read and review I want to know whether to continue or leave it as a oneshot!**


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